Drone submerged in the lake

[arckphoto]

Hi there, I'm new to the forum. My drone was down and I want to seek some advise on:
1) how come the auto RTB (and warning) did not function and gave me sufficient warning on returning earlier?
2) how do I go about the replacement drone (I still have the remote controller)? Neither the Mavic shop site nor other retailers have the bare drone for sale.

Here are more details.........(I live in Sydney, Australia)

I started the flight at Canton Beach with a fresh battery at 100%. At 60%, It was 4km away over the headland of The Entrance North. I decided it was time to bring it back and it still should have 20% left when it landed, in theory. What I did not notice was the wind direction and speed. The fact was it cruised at about 32km/h outbound with tail wind. Coming back it was doing only 15 to 20km/h with the dreadful head wind. The rest was history. It dived into the lake 545m from the shore where I stood. The emergency landing warning came up but that did not help before it was over a large body of water (the lake).

Thanks in advance folks...........

Here is the last 30 seconds of the flight before it dived into the lake, if you are interested.

The last 30 seconds of footage before my Mavic Pro dived into Tuggerah Lake, Central Coast, NSW, Australia, 545 metres off Canton Beach, Toukley | SkyPixel.com

 

[msinger]

how do I go about the replacement drone (I still have the remote controller)? Neither the Mavic shop site nor other retailers have the bare drone for sale.

You can buy the Mavic aircraft only from DJI here.

Here is the last 30 seconds of the flight before it dived into the lake, if you are interested

You were pretty close to the shore. If this ever happens again, hold the throttle in the full up position while steering the Mavic back to land. That'll prevent the Mavic from descending when it starts to auto land. The battery will eventually shut off mid-flight when it has no usable power left, but it would be worth the risk since the alternative is losing the aircraft.

 

[tictag]

The Mavic is clever but unfortunately it doesn't know about headwinds. You might want to check out your local diving clubs, somebody might be willing to dive for it. And, depending on whether the battery had chance to short anything, you might be able to clean and dry it, get it back up and running. Did you buy the refresh insurance? If so, recovering it will give you that option too.

You've already been advised how to buy the Mavic on its own. Also consider second hand sales because people will be wanting to upgrade to the Platinum now and Mavic v2 shortly.

 

[tictag]

For future ref, if you're struggling to get back against a headwind, don't forget there is Sport Mode. She flies a lot faster in Sport Mode.

 

[arckphoto]

You can buy the Mavic aircraft only from DJI here.


You were pretty close to the shore. If this ever happens again, hold the throttle in the full up position while steering the Mavic back to land. That'll prevent the Mavic from descending when it starts to auto land. The battery will eventually shut off mid-flight when it has no usable power left, but it would be worth the risk since the alternative is losing the aircraft.

Thanks for the advise. In fact I did keep the throttle up as it activated emergency landing by itself. It flew till 1% before it took the dive............

 

[arckphoto]

For future ref, if you're struggling to get back against a headwind, don't forget there is Sport Mode. She flies a lot faster in Sport Mode.

Why I didn't think of that????? From your experience, would Sport Mode draw more juice from the remaining battery power? Anyway, any net gain in speed would be goodness. I'll remember this. Thanks.

 

[arckphoto]

You can buy the Mavic aircraft only from DJI here.

Thanks . I have just found one on eBay which sells cheaper than DJI site. DJI Mavic Pro - Aircraft (Excludes Remote Controller and Battery Charger) | eBay

The other approach may be to buy a full set and sell the remote controller and chargers to cover some of the costs.

 

[msinger]

The other approach may be to buy a full set and sell the remote controller and chargers to cover some of the costs.

Yes, that should turn out to be less expensive (if you don't mind a bit of extra work).

 

[-rce-]

sorry for your loss. but, there are reasons the FAA and AMA require and suggest visual line of sight flying. does Australia not have this rule/recommendation? just curious.

 

[BerndM]

If you're planning a longer distance flight, you should try to position yourself so that your OUTgoing path is INTO the wind. If you do that, when your battery gets down to 50%, head for home using the now TAILWIND wind condition to help you easily make it with plenty of reserve battery left.
If you fly out with a tailwind to 50% battery and then have to return home against a headwind, you will almost always be sorry.

 

[FlyGuy8675309]

Why I didn't think of that????? From your experience, would Sport Mode draw more juice from the remaining battery power? .

I get you -- kind of like when you're almost on "E" so you floor it to get to the gas station quicker. Not sure.

Just another tip: Fly as low as you can, esp. over water where you can get 20 feet above with no worries... the wind is much lower down there.

 

[arckphoto]

If you're planning a longer distance flight, you should try to position yourself so that your OUTgoing path is INTO the wind. If you do that, when your battery gets down to 50%, head for home using the now TAILWIND wind condition to help you easily make it with plenty of reserve battery left.
If you fly out with a tailwind to 50% battery and then have to return home against a headwind, you will almost always be sorry.

I learned this lesson the hard way............

 

[arckphoto]

sorry for your loss. but, there are reasons the FAA and AMA require and suggest visual line of sight flying. does Australia not have this rule/recommendation? just curious.

There is such requirement in Australia. It was line of sight with unblocked view in my case. I must say though I struggle to "see" the actual aircraft further than 2km away on a clear day. I guess your point is to keep the max flying distance to the limit of what you can actually eyeball it. That way, you should always be able to return the aircraft safely.

 

[arckphoto]

Just another tip: Fly as low as you can, esp. over water where you can get 20 feet above with no worries... the wind is much lower down there.

Good point.

 

[tictag]

J

Why I didn't think of that????? From your experience, would Sport Mode draw more juice from the remaining battery power? Anyway, any net gain in speed would be goodness. I'll remember this. Thanks.

Flying faster will naturally draw more juice but that's not the point here. I was once flying into a headwind and was actually still going backwards with the stick fully forward, in other words I would have *never* made it home. Switched to Sport and ended up flying around 20kph forward through the headwind and made it back. Oh, and never use RTH in such circumstances, it goes no faster than in Normal mode.

 

[Porto]

Next time you want to fly long distance (stock battery and RC):

1. Make sure Smart RTH is set to Return To Home (not hover or land).
2. Switch off OA. You won't need it anyway flying above water.
3. Make sure your outbound flight is against headwind.
4. If you do the automated RTH, push the right stick forward and see if it will give you faster speed than the standard 36kph (provided that you didn't do any parameter changes). If it gives you faster speed, push it forward the whole flight back. With strong tailwind, you'll do about 50kph.
5. If your return flight happen to face headwind (wind can change direction), try lower altitude. Usually the lower the altitude, the calmer the wind. Flying over water, you can fly 10-15m high safely.
6. If you do the 5 points above, it's very unlikely that your Mavic won't make it back home. But should you really think it won't, see if you can bring it down to the nearest shore, even if it's far away from you. At least you'll still have the chance for recovering it back.

Once you have your replacement, don't hesitate to do it again, it's fun! . But remember the 6 points above.

 

[CyberdyneSystems]

After reading this I think I’ll spend at bit of time at the local soccer field and fly to the point auto land starts and see just what it’s like to try to eek out a bit more distance.

 

[Porto]

After reading this I think I’ll spend at bit of time at the local soccer field and fly to the point auto land starts and see just what it’s like to try to eek out a bit more distance.

Just don't do it too often. It won't be good for your battery.

 

[arckphoto]

Once you have your replacement, don't hesitate to do it again, it's fun! . But remember the 6 points above.

That's the spirit!!!!

 

[arckphoto]

DJI has asked me to send all the flight records and black box data to them to see who's responsibility is that. Have anyone interacted with DJI before in similar situation? I think they will most likely say "after our analysis, we conclude that this is your sole responsibility" haha. Would they offer confession / discounts on replacement aircraft?

Dear Andy,

We are sorry to hear about this incident. We understand your are confused that why it didn't return to home .

For fly-away cases, we would like to conduct the data analysis to judge the responsibility before taking the future steps.

To help us fully understand your situation, please follow the instructions below and provide as much information as possible:

->Please follow the attached screenshot to extract the flight data and Black Box data within the aircraft, upload ALL the data in the aircraft to Google Drive and send us the link to download.

->Upload flight records via the DJI GO app:
a. Enter the flight record page by clicking the icon at top left.
b. Click the star-shaped icon associated with the relevant flight records to save them to the app. Then click the cloud-shaped icon at the top right side of the screen to upload them.
c. Provide DJI with the login email account on the app. This will allow us to access your flight records via our server.

->Please provide the following information:
【DJI GO Log-in Email】：make sure the flight records has been uploaded.
【Exact Accident Date】：
【Purchase Invoice】：
【Contact Number】:
【Shipping Address】：NO PO BOX
【SN】：find on the original box
【Cache video of the final flight】：if you have recorded video in the final flight, please follow the attached PDF file to access the video.

Your information will be reviewed and analyzed by members of our R&D team as soon as possible. Any further question, please feel free to contact us anytime.

Thank you for you cooperation and support.


Shirley
DJI – The Future of Possible